Nineteenth century French opera, outside of the perennials Carmen, Romeo et Juliette, and Faust, has largely wound up having to take a back seat to Italian and German opera of the same era. Then along comes Sumi Jo, a glamorous, golden toned, and exciting soprano whose realm of expertise happens to be in nineteenth century French opera. Rather than force her to sing Wagner or Verdi certainly it is best to showcase Jo in the music that she is best at, even if names such as Ambroise Thomas, André Messager, Michael Balfe, and ...
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Nineteenth century French opera, outside of the perennials Carmen, Romeo et Juliette, and Faust, has largely wound up having to take a back seat to Italian and German opera of the same era. Then along comes Sumi Jo, a glamorous, golden toned, and exciting soprano whose realm of expertise happens to be in nineteenth century French opera. Rather than force her to sing Wagner or Verdi certainly it is best to showcase Jo in the music that she is best at, even if names such as Ambroise Thomas, André Messager, Michael Balfe, and Adolphe Adam do not exactly seem to motivate music lovers to take flight to the nearest record store or concert hall. Make no mistake about it, Jo is simply incredible in this music -- light, airy, and able to scale some of the highest, most treacherous passagework in opera without the slightest sign of strain or discomfort. Every pitch is true -- at the end of "Le Jour sous le soleil bèni" Jo's voice moves up into the stratosphere and just sits there until the end of the piece,...
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